You Make Work Of Breathing
by Elis Narene
Summary: Hiruma Youichi makes Anezaki Mamori suffer embarrassment, takes up her time, overloads her with work and on top of that is the constant reason she has to babysit and protect the Deimon Devilbats. With all that work, why does she still stay by his side?


_A/N: Written for the prompt, 'work'. I guess the memory of Mamori's distaste after being forced to 'reveal' her evil side stuck with me for this fic. All her actions following the School Annual Festival are purely my imagination and unresearched so sorry about any discrepancies and any OOC-ness! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21 or the song, 'Breathe'. That's by Faith Hill. :) _

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**You Make Work of Breathing **

It took work to stay by Hiruma Yoichi's side.

Tossing her head, wavy brown tendrils floated in a cloud around her face, then in one quick motion landed straight and slightly damp against the back of her neck and away from her face. Anezaki Mamori rubbed her tired eyes and leaned in closer to the misted up mirror. The dark make-up smeared around her eyes partially hid the dark circles but also amplified them. Splashing more water on her face only made the mascara run in black rivulets down her cheeks.

"Black like the Devil's own heart." she muttered, a blonde devil's pointy-toothed grin flashing in her mind.

The mafia outfit she'd worn earlier in the day lay discarded in a pile in the corner of the bathroom. She pointedly averted her gaze from it's reflection in the mirror – a bruised cherry to top the ridiculous pile of work she'd already done for him.

That morning, she was in the midst of dressing for the School Annual Festival, trying and failing to pick out an outfit that would look 'menacing' when she heard the doorbell ring. Her mother answered the door and she thought nothing more of it until Anezaki Mami came upstairs with a teasing smile on her face and a large box.

"Your schoolmate came over, dear. The charming one with the spiky blonde hair… he said you might have trouble picking something to wear for the event at school today so he dropped this off." Mamori had taken the box, a sense of foreboding building up within her. And as she opened it to reveal the ominous furs and over-the-top design of the coat, Mami said, "What a nice guy he is…!"

It took all her energy to not run out the door after Hiruma and throw the box in his face.

"Hiruma is NOT a nice guy!"

In a fit of rebellion, Mamori decided not to work on the charts and strategies tonight. Instead, as the lights in the Anezaki household went out, a large box lay by Mamori's bed, holding a neatly folded black outfit.

_I can feel the magic floating in the air__  
__Being with you gets me that way__  
__I watch the sunlight dance across your face__  
__And I've never been this swept away__  
__All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze__  
__When I'm lying wrapped up in your arms__  
__The whole world just fades away__  
__The only thing I hear__  
__Is the beating of your heart_

She awoke from a dream of being in the devil's embrace with a start. Her heart pounded in her ears and at first it felt like waking from a nightmare. But then the real fear struck her when she realized she still remembered how warm and how comforting her dream had been, and she winced and shuddered.

The sound of gunshots rang out amidst shrill cries.

"Mukyaaa!"

Mamori, heading to the football pitch immediately ran the rest of the way there. Pelting the ground beneath Sena and Monta's feet with bullets, Hiruma looked displeased. At the sight of Sena's panicked face, Mamori snapped.

"What do you think you're doing?" she shouted.

Nonchalantly, Hiruma looked over, "Keh, this is training, Fucking Manager. Stay out of it."

"That's not how you train! You could hurt them and then where would the team be?"

"Actually, Fucking Manager, this IS how the Deimon Devilbats fucking train. If you don't fucking like it you can damn well leave."

"After all the work I've done, you can't afford my compensation fee."

"Ke ke ke. I said leave, not fucking quit."

"I'll leave when I want to, especially not while you're still terrorizing them."

Sena and Monta who had been watching the escalating argument, wincing at every repartee, decided it was time for them to make their escape. As they were sneaking off, Hiruma said, "Fucking Shrimps, run 300 laps. Now! Ke ke ke!" He released a barrage of bullets in their general direction and they shot off.

Mamori stood, watching with her hands on her hips. She still looked cross.

"You'll get more wrinkles than you already have, Fucking Manager." He chortled.

"No shooting. I mean it." She strode off toward the club house in a huff.

When he came in a short while later, her face was a mask of concentration but he could hear her breaths come out in quick, short puffs. Turning his back on her, he slumped in his chair behind hers as usual and began work on his laptop.

'Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap tap. Tappity tap.' His fingers tapped out a familiar tune and the familiarity of the moment lulled them both as it always did.

Her breathing finally slowed and evened out, dusk was falling and the little club house was getting dark. She bent over the desk and squinted at the data written in Hiruma's small scrawl. Then lifting the piece of paper to the fading light, she leaned back and felt the knobs of his spine brush against hers.

"Sorr-" the murmured words died on her lips and her body froze in the midst of moving away when she felt the pressure of his weight leaning against her.

Then she smiled and relaxed, letting herself lean on him too.

_Cause I can feel you breathe__  
__It's washing over me__  
__And suddenly I'm melting into you__  
__There's nothing left to prove__  
__Baby, all we need is just to be__  
__Caught up in the touch__  
__Slow and steady rush__  
__Baby, isn't that the way that love's suppose to be__  
__I can feel you breathe_

"Yo, Fucking Manager…"

"Ah?"

"I'm glad you're here."

The light crept away surreptitiously, washing out like a tide at dusk, leaving them to sit in the quiet moment of rest all work momentarily forgotten. Anezaki Mamori closed her eyes, enjoying her contentment.

_In a way I know my heart is waking up__  
__As all the walls come tumbling down__  
__Closer than I've ever felt before__  
__And I know, and you know__  
__There's no need for words right now_

Yes, it took work to stay by Hiruma Yoichi's side.

But every moment was worth it.

_I can feel the magic floating in the air__  
__Being with you gets me that way..._


End file.
